


The Volunteer

by erzatscarlet



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: A no powers AU that wouldn't leave alone, Basically their universe goes the same way just without Supergirl, F/F, Human Kara, SuperCorp, all because I read a tumblr post, and Alex is truly FBI not DEO, no powers au, what if Kara got her powers because of Lena's experiments?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-28 08:13:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17179196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erzatscarlet/pseuds/erzatscarlet
Summary: Lena's final Harun-El human trial volunteer: Kara Danvers.orKara gets her powers because of Lena AU.





	The Volunteer

** The volunteer **

It all started in this lab, and it would all end in it today as well. One way or another

That's what Lena told herself that day upon arriving. Eve had it all ready. The place was spotless, like no one had ever gone inside or used any of the equipment. That couldn't be farthest from reality.

Many had come and gone (truly gone) in this lab. First was Adam, then Melissa, Jess, Flo, Katie, Jeremy... way too many for her liking. All good people who gave their lives for the science. For the chance of changing the future, save lives.

And Lena was shutting down the project that took them from this world if today ended in another failure.

She had ran out of options.

No more science. No more tries. The formula couldn’t be modified again. She knows. She tried.

Of course, there was another reason.

It all started when she made the mistake of bonding with Adam and that led her to also bond with all the other subjects. On paper they were all just numbers, letters, and codes. Inside Lena's mind they were all people with families, stories, and lives worth living. Lives cut short by her hand (even if they all knew the risks and faced them bravely and insisted until their last breaths that it wasn’t her fault).

So this was it. She had gathered as much information as she scientifically could. Everything was calibrated perfectly for this last test. It should work, but if it didn’t...

"Then this was never meant for humans. If it fails today then it was just never meant to be. And it was all for nothing."

And that was the most frightening thing she could have ever thought about.

///

Harun-El

Eve Tessmacher looked at the vials containing the last (and it may really be THE last) mix of their yet to be miracle medicine.

Each volunteer had reacted different to it.

Adam, the first, had died in minutes. Odette, their last, had lasted for some weeks and apparently gotten better; but the sudden relapse after showing resistance to the treatment had been quick and fatal. She was gone in just a few hours with total organ failure. They made sure that it was physically painless.

Eve puts the vials back to their box and takes her tablet to look at the information in it one more time. She really didn't need to, she had already memorized it all up to the tiniest most insignificant detail. But Eve needed to be more than 100% sure that nothing could go bad today. She didn't think Lena could take it if this failed. She was worried for her boss, now one of her closest friends. All the deaths had also affected her in some degree so she knew that for Lena it was way worse. She couldn’t even imagine it.

So this needed to work.  
She prayed to every god she knew the name of that this worked.

Eve looked back at the Harun-El and realized that there was one more entity she hadn't actually included. She added Rao to her list. Any help was welcomed.

Eve looked around one last time. Nothing else she could do now.

It was time to go retrieve their last chance, so she went to the room where Miss Kara Danvers was waiting.

///  
  
Saying she was nervous would be the biggest understatement.  
  
Kara hated hospitals. She always had and she always would. At least the place didn't quite looked like one. Except for the IV pole, the stretcher (more comfortable than usual, almost like a bed), the instruments, the monitors, the IV bags, the slippers and robe she was wearing, the smell... ok fine... it looked A LOT like a hospital.  
  
At least the walls weren't white. That was an improvement.  
  
Through the years she had seen her fair share of stupid ass white walls and even greater stupid ass white ceilings.  
  
She had a happy childhood. It was her, her mom, and her dad. Little typical family of three. She had a cat, Streaky, the fluffiest orange creature ever to exist.  
  
She liked school, had many friends, practiced sports (beat the guys at them all the time), and did well academically.  
  
A good life... and then came the fire.  
  
Not the literal kind, mind you, but it did feel like one.  
  
It happened during PE at school one day. They were training track and field and she was jogging alongside her best friend. One of the guys challenged her to a race and she gladly accepted. She won, of course, but during her celebratory hug something changed. Suddenly she couldn’t breath, she lost all her strength, her heart started racing, faster and faster, and then the pain. That pain is the last thing she remembered before she blacked out.  
  
She woke up to her first set of white walls and ceiling around her.  
  
Her heart, they told her, had a birth defect.  
  
Up until now it had worked well, but the stress had being building up. Her heart had gotten weaker and now couldn’t resist strenuous activities or high stress environments. So, at 13, her life had a major turn around when her parents sent her to live from the vibrant Metropolis to the lame Midvale with the Danvers family. The couple and her parents were life long friends and they also had a daughter, Alex, a couple years older than her. They got along.  
  
It was the perfect set up. Eliza Danvers was a doctor so she could look after Kara in all the sense of the word.  
  
It was also supposed to be a temporary arrangement. It gave her parents time to sort things out with their jobs back in Metropolis and go to her while she got used to that new life.

But then the literal fire happened.

She lost her parents.  
  
That night was her second waking up to white walls. Her heart almost gave out due to the shock of the news.  
  
The Danvers adopted her. That helped a little, her weak heart didn’t help at all.  
  
It was Alex the one who kept her alive during the following years and many hospital stays.  
  
When she turned 16 it was decided that she needed a transplant.  
  
They put her on list immediately. Told her the wait was from 7 to 10 years.  
  
During that time she got more close calls. They moved her up on the priority. Every heart available got crossed with her first.  
  
Not compatible.  
  
Not compatible.  
  
Not fucking compatible.  
  
Now she was entering year 11 and she could feel it. She could feel her heart finally giving up.  
  
"6 months?"  
  
"A year at most," said her doctor. "If we cant find a donor soon I'm afraid your next attack could also be the last. To be honest, that you are still here with us its a miracle in itself."  
  
"And a transplant is the only option, right? I mean, we've already tried every other heart surgery there is"  
  
"We have, but maybe..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Maybe there is another option, a medical trial, dangerous if what I heard is true. High risk," she didn’t even hesitate.  
  
"I'll do it"  
  
"Are you sure? Kara, you could lose it all."  
  
"A year," she said. "That's all I could really lose. Just a year. What difference makes if I go a bit sooner? I mean, it could still happen. At least I need to try."  
  
And now, 5 months later, she was here. And no one, except her doctor, knew. She was alone. Better that way. If things went south no one would need to suffer but her.  
  
"Miss Danvers?" she turns... and blushes, her heart skipping a beat or two (maybe three). The woman that had just entered was just too stunning to be real.  
  
"Miss Danvers? Are you ok?"  
  
"Y-Yes. Yes, I am. Just a bit nervous."  
  
"Understandable," the gorgeous woman says. "Let me introduce myself, I’m Dr. Kieran, the scientist in charge. I believe Miss Tessmacher already explained everything?" Kara nods and Lena keeps talking.  
  
Well, if this woman was the last thing she would see on this Earth, maybe it wouldn't be that bad of an end.  
  
///

Kara Danvers.  
  
How she wished she could have met her in different circumstances.  
  
They had the same age. They both had lived in Metropolis in the same wealthy part of the city. Her father had, in fact, worked for Luthor Corp at the time and Kara was meant to go to MHS after middle school in the first district, as Lena did. They would have known each other, maybe even be friends, if not for her heart disease.  
  
"But look at us now!" Kara said, all sunshine and rainbows while Lena inserted an IV on her arm. "Some things are just meant to be."  
  
Lena smiled sadly and shook her head. Sometimes the universe was just extra cruel with her.  
"There is something you should know, Miss Danvers," says Lena, finishing with the IV and connecting the fluids. "About this medical trial you signed for."

"I read all the papers with my doctor, Dr. K," says Kara, flexing her arm a bit to get rid of the tingly feeling of the catheter and make sure its comfortable enough. "I signed everything and put my thumb print willingly and in full use of my mental capabilities. I understand all risks and benefits, even when the risks are high. Really high."

Lena gives her a small smile, Kara can't help to notice the sadness behind it. It seems that the feeling was a constant companion for this good (gorgeous) doctor.

"I'm glad about that, but that's not what I meant," she says. "There is one little detail that Miss Teschmacher didn't tell you and its not in the papers."

"Should I worry? You won't collect my other organs, are you? Cause let me tell you, I don’t represent a big profit on that venue. My heart is useless, my lungs have suffered a lot, my kidneys always worked over time, and my liver... my liver is fine, actually."

Lena chuckles without humor. "No, Miss Danvers, that's not it," she makes a small pause and continues. "What I wanted to say is that you are the last test subject. Be it that it works or not, there won't be more trials."

"So it all depends if I live or die after you inject whatever you are injecting me with?"

"Put bluntly, yes," and she adds. "but you can walk away if you want at any point, I wont go after you. Either way, the experiment will be over."

"What if I make it? What then?"

Lena doesn't answer. "Stay here, relax. Sleep if you can. I'll return before the bag of saline solution runs out."

She walks out feeling Kara's eyes drilling a hole on her back.

///

Eve was talking with Jess when Lena got out of the elevator on the top floor.

Eve had news. Good news. She just hoped Lena also thought of them like that.

"Miss Luthor, I have-"

"One second Eve, hold that thought," she tells her before turning to Jess. "I know its last minute again, but..."

"Please move all my meetings for next week? Already done," Lena nods, silently requesting her to continue. "Only two people threatened to cancel their deals, but of course thought better about it when I reminded them we were also in speaking terms with their major competitors."

"You are Heaven sent, Jess, thank you"

"Just doing my job, Miss Luthor," she gives her a small polite smile before going back to work. Eve follows Lena back to her office. She closes the door behind her.

"Sorry for the interruption Eve, you wanted to tell me something?"

"Yes!" Eve opens a file and passes the tablet to Lena. "I ran the simulation with all the updated data from Miss Danvers and it ran smoothly. I did the fast forward on her physical condition and there was no set backs. In fact, according to this, her birth defect disappears at 100% and her abilities are enhanced to maximum values. I also looked at the 6 months mark and then the 1 year mark. No issues. Patient recovers completely."

Lena looks at Eve. The woman was so excited she could barely contain it.

"I don't want to sound rude, Eve, but its just a simulation. Odette’s also looked good and we both know how she ended"

"I know," Eve wouldn't let anyone kill her moment. Not even a Luthor. "But you have to take into consideration that Odette’s original simulation data still threw a 20% error margin. Kara's throw a 0.01%. That's why I re ran Odette’s simulation with the new Harun-El that Kara will get," Eve takes the tablet back and inputs a few commands. The new data appears on Lena's big screen. "In this simulation Odette survives with an error margin of 0.03%."

"What?"

"And that’s not all," a new screen appears. "To make sure it wasn't just a coincidence I ran every single volunteer data all the way to Adam."

Lena is speechless. If what Eve was telling her came true then that meant that... she looks at Eve, eyes shiny with tears.

"They all make it?"

"Yes, with recoveries going from 96% to 100% improvement. Simulations going as far as 20 years only because the program freezes whenever I try to go beyond that mark," she walks to the CEO and puts a hand on her shoulder. "Lena, you did it."

Lena dries her eyes and takes a deep breath. She would not get her hopes up no matter how beautiful this prognosis looked.  
"Not yet," Lena's hard tone makes Eve flinch. "Nothing can be said yet. I'll say I did it if Miss Danvers is still breathing by the end of this month."

///

Bored.

Bored.

Stomach makes noises.

Hungry and bored.

Kara looks up. The IV bag was almost empty. It had been put in the slowest dripping pattern so three hours had pass. She slept for one hour before her stomach woke her up demanding a blood sacrifice. She really hoped Dr. K told the truth about coming back before the IV run out. She needed to ask if she was allowed to eat.

She only had to wait five more minutes. As the last drop of fluid fell into the IV line, doctor Kieran opened the door. She was carrying a brown paper bag. Kara's eyes started shining at the vision. She recognized the logo on that bag.

"Miss Danvers, how are you feeling?"

"A bit hungry, but fine," her stomach decides to makes noise. Kara blushes.

"That sounds more than just a bit," Dr. K passes her the brown bag. "For you. Its from a small place down the street."

"Noonan's!" Kara celebrates taking out a sticky bun. She sees the doctor's surprised face. "My sister lives here in National. I come to visit often from Midvale. We love that place," she explains and takes a big bite from the sticky bun.

"You have a sister?" Kara finishes the bun before answering.

"Yes," she takes out another. "She is my older sister, her name is Alex. She works for the FBI in some fancy lab that she never takes me to because 'you are a civilian, Kara! You don’t have clearance' as if she couldn't get me one fancy pass. Please, she is director of her department," she angry bites the second sticky bun, eating half of it.

This time Kara notices that the doctor's laugh was real. And wow! That was a sound that she could get used to.  
"I suffered something similar with my brother, long ago, before our fall out."  
  
"You have a brother?"  
  
"Older than me as well, I used to worship the ground he walked on. I think it's a common occurrence among adopted children," the last piece of the fourth sticky bun falls from Kara's mouth.  
  
"You were adopted?"  
  
"Yes, after my mother died. I was four," Lena opens her mouth as to say more, but thinks better of it. Kara knows not to pry.  
  
"Alex is the reason I’m alive today," Kara says to fill the silence. "A lot of bad things happened close to each other and if it weren’t for her I would have given up long ago."  
  
"I'm guessing you are talking about that?" Lena points at her heart.  
  
"To begin with," Kara confirms. "It was a hard blow and when I was finally getting used to the idea of starting anew in Midvale, I got the news that my parents had died in a fire. I was 13."  
  
"Kara, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know that. Were you and Alex ok?"  
  
"Alex was fine, I'm the one who almost pops an artery with the news," Lena looks confused so Kara explains. "Alex is my adoptive sister. The Danvers were close friends to my parents. They took me in after they died and I'll be forever grateful."  
  
"Still, that's a lot for someone so young," Lena gets closer and takes her hands in hers. "You are a strong one, Kara," the blonde smiles.  
  
"You said it again."  
  
"Say what?"  
  
"My name," she says. "Kara. You've been calling me Miss Danvers up until now," the doctor releases her hands and takes a few steps back. "Doctor K? Did I say something wrong?"  
  
"No, no its just... Its not professional," Kara raises an eyebrow, not buying it. The doctor sighs. "For at least once I didn't want to get close to the 'test subject'," Kara frowns.  
  
"I'm a person before a lab rat."  
  
"I didn't intend to suggest otherwise, I’m sorry," doctor Kieran takes a sit beside her. "I grew attached to every other volunteer and to watch them die ... its worse when your feelings are compromised."  
  
"That's the reason, right?" Kara says, seeing the big picture now. "That's why I'm the last one. You can't take it anymore."  
  
"Perceptive, I like that," says the doctor. "You are not wrong but also not completely right. You see, apart from the fact that I don't want to see anyone else sacrifice themselves I also can't modify the medication further than I have," doctor K takes a deep breath. "If this one doesn't work, then it never will. Last chance."  
  
"A ride or die situation, then."  
  
"A quite literal one," answers the doctor. "Are you still up for it? The contract is not binding, there's a clause that says you can change your mind. You don't need to stay and risk your life."  
  
"There isn’t really a life to risk as I'm on borrowed time," she confesses before she can think better about it. "My cardiologist gave me up to a year before my heart says that it’s enough. 7 months left. There are no hearts available for me for transplant, never got a match in 10 years, so this is not only your last chance. Its also mine."  
  
///  
  
Lena, for the first time in her life, didn’t know what to say.  
  
This young woman, this amazing young woman, was putting all her last hopes in this... in HER.  
  
How exactly do you deal with that?  
  
"Doctor Kieran, are you all right?"  
  
"What?" her voice sounded funny.  
  
"Well, you suddenly fell silent and stiff and... started crying?" Lena raises a hand to her face. Her cheek was wet. She panics. Lena stands up and grabs some tissue paper from the table.  
  
"Its nothing, I’m fine."  
  
"Doctor," Lena notices the worry in Kara's voice. Worry for her, the scientist, instead of her own. She was doomed to always feel more than what was recommended.  
  
"I’m fine," she repeats, more certain about it this time. "I promise. You just caught me by surprise."  
  
"Just that?"  
  
"What do you mean?" Kara looked troubled.  
  
"I know those tears, that reaction. Its pity. As simple as that."  
  
"No, Kara. Its not," says Lena turning around to face her.  
  
"Please don’t lie to me just to try and make me feel better."  
  
"I’m not," she says. Lena takes a seat beside her once again. "I panicked," she admits. How was it so easy to open up to her? With any other she would have diverted the topic or just walked away. What was different with her?  
  
"I panicked because there is much more at stake now," she explains. "All the other volunteers had many things in common but there was one special characteristic that could describe all of them without error: they didn’t care. Live. Die. Whatever. They had no hope. But you... You DO."  
  
Kara lowers her gaze, suddenly shy. Her loose hair acting as a curtain. Lena can't help thinking it looks adorable.  
  
"Is that bad?" Kara asks in a tiny voice.  
  
"Not at all," she reaches over to put aside Kara's hair and look at her face. She was blushing. "It gives me hope too," Kara smiles. "And maybe that’s exactly what was missing."  
  
After that, they talk a little bit more. About everything and nothing until its time for the next dose of IV medicine. She takes a blood sample and then hangs the next IV bag.  
  
"Only two more today and you'll be free to go."  
  
"And back tomorrow for round 2?"  
  
"Yes," Lena finishes, takes off her gloves and turns to leave.  
  
"Everything will be alright, doctor Kieran. I promise."  
  
"Lena," she calls back. "You can just call me Lena."

///

"Lena, really?" it's the first thing Eve says to her boss/friend when entering her office later that afternoon. She had just finished connecting Kara's third IV bag and the girl had asked for the CEO.

"Eve, what do you mean?"  
  
"I mean that Kara asked for you. She said, and I quote, "did I said something to upset Lena?" when she saw me and not you," Eve is pleased with the blush now present on the other woman's face. "This is a first, you know?"  
  
"Eve, please-"  
  
"No, I need to know cause I'm so curious, what led you to tell her your REAL name? Up until now you were just Dr. Kieran and now, suddenly, you are Lena?" she was smiling so much. She couldn't wait to let Sam, CFO in Metropolis and Lena's life long friend, know about this "romantic" development.  
  
"I don't know what you are thinking, but I'm pretty sure you are wrong," Lena's tone gives no space for debate. Eve pouts. "Don't do that. Now, all good with Miss Danvers?"  
  
"Yes, all values are within parameter," says Eve, shaking off her disappointment and passing Lena her ever present tablet to show her. "Phase one is going at 100% as expected."  
  
"Good. As soon as Miss Danvers finishes with the last IV I want everything ready and on stand by for Phase two early tomorrow."  
  
"Of course, I'll see to it," but she stays there, unmoving.  
  
"Is there something else?"  
  
"Kara trusts you," says Eve, taking Lena off guard. "And I trust you. I would have stopped working with you long ago if I didn't. So trust yourself a little more. This will work. This time it will work," she lets her words sink in a little before continuing. "And maybe, when she makes it, you could take her to that restaurant you like so much."  
  
Eve leaves quickly after that. Before Miss Luthor could have the chance to fire her.  
  
///  
  
Day two.  
  
Kara felt great.  
  
Eve had greeted her that morning and told her that Lena would meet her down at the lab after she ran some tests.  
  
She was back on the comfortable stretcher with the robe and the socks. Hands behind her head, eyes closed, sounds from the different monitors Eve had hocked her to all around her. She was used to those noises. She made quick work on blocking them. So many years. Her brain was already wired not to notice them. She focuses instead on her breathing and heart beat, but not too much. She didn’t want to fall sleep.  
  
Her mind wanders and it lands on the dark haired beauty she would be seeing soon. If this... no, WHEN this worked she was so going to ask her out on a date. She was positive Lena would say yes. After all, if what Eve implied was true, she was the first to ever know Lena's true name instead of the Dr. alias. It must mean something right? Kara hoped so.  
  
Well, it seems that hoping was what she mostly did these days.  
  
"But maybe that's exactly what was missing, right? Hope. she said it," Kara tells to the emptiness of the room. "And that's really all I have left right now."  
  
Kara thinks about the possible future. She saw herself, whole and healthy, in an apartment basked in sunlight. She was wearing comfortable clothes, the ones you would wear on a lazy Sunday morning. There was a balcony, the double doors open and the drapes flying with the Summer breeze. There was someone on the balcony. She sees herself walking to them and parting the drapes to step outside. It was a woman. She had dark hair and was wearing a sleeveless long white dress. She turns around and smiles at her. Lena. Dream Kara walks to her and gets her into a warm embrace. Its like she can feel Lena returning her hug. She sighs contently. She could get used to this.  
  
Kara opens her eyes at the sound of heels on linoleum. She was back in the now familiar lab and Lena was walking into it while checking something in a tablet similar to the one Eve always has. Kara's heart skips a bit. Lena turns to look at her one eyebrow raised. Kara curses internally. The heart monitor had caught her reaction.  
  
"Is your heart acting up or you are just happy to see me?" teases Lena. Kara just blushes intensively and avoids her gaze. The heart monitor reacts again. Now Kara curses out loud. Lena laughs.  
  
"We better get to Phase two before that heart of yours decides to stop, shall we?" Kara nods, heavily.  
  
Lena puts her game face on. Kara sees her taking one vial full of dark liquid and insert a minimal amount into the IV bag.  
  
"This is called Harun-El," she explains. "You started getting it yesterday. Three doses of 1ml diluted in a 1 litter bag of saline solution dripping at the slowest rate. We start with small dosage so your body gets time to get use to it. Today, you are getting 2ml," Lena finishes connecting everything and looks her in the eye. "Questions?"  
  
"When this is all over, will you go on a date with me?" Lena pinches the bridge of her nose.  
  
"Kara please, this is serious."  
  
"And so was I," she says. "One date. When this is all over?" Kara waits nervously for an answer.  
  
"I'm flattered Kara, really, but this is not the time. You understand, right?" Kara hides her disappointment behind a smile.  
  
"Yes, of course.”  
  
"Thank you. Now, I'll be back in two hours. The dripping is set to a faster pace today," and with that she leaves.  
  
Kara is left alone again.  
  
"She didn't say yes, but she also didn't say no. Have hope, Danvers. You are good at that."  
  
She falls sleep to the rhythmic sound of the dripping.  
  
///  
  
Did that really just happened?  
  
Did Kara just asked her out?  
  
She didn't imagine it, right? The woman back in her lab really asked her on a date.  
  
And for a second, she actually thought about saying yes.  
  
Time to panic.

This was getting to personal for comfort. She couldn’t get Kara's hopes up. Heck, she couldn't get her own damn hopes up. Lena needed to draw a line and keep it.  
  
She didn't know what would happen in the next days or hours. Kara could be dead soon and her future forever shattered. Both their futures.  
  
Or...  
  
She makes it and gets abilities beyond their imaginations and obtains the brightest of futures. Both of them do. And maybe then it would be possible to-  
  
"No, Lena stop! Dreaming like this will only make it harder if this fails. Wait for success. Then dream."  
  
She was in denial about the fact she already was.  
  
///  
  
Eve noticed things during the next weeks.  
  
The first, and most important, was Kara's health. Her heart condition improved greatly. She told them that she'd never felt such a steady heart rhythm, not since before that fatidic day when she was 13.  
  
The way they confirmed that though, almost gave them their own heart attacks.  
  
Kara was late that day and Eve was worried. Lena was stuck in a video conference with a company in Japan. An emergency, they had said, so she couldn’t shake it off. Thanks to that, she didn't know about Kara being late... yet.  
  
Eve was passing back and forth, looking at the clock every few seconds. She was nervous. Did something happened to the girl? Had the Harun-El acted up? Or had her heart given out suddenly? Would they find her later, dead, in her hotel room? Oh God, please let it not be the case. Any of them.  
  
When the clock marked exactly one hour after Kara was supposed to arrive, a blonde head appeared at the door. Eve noticed that Kara was moving fast. She knew that wasn't a good thing. Why wasn’t it a good thing? Heart. Weak heart. Oh right! No strenuous activities. And she was running. Running was a strenuous activity... Eve pales.  
  
She ran to Kara's encounter (it was such a movie thing, they would laugh later) worry evident on her face.  
  
"Kara! What do you think you are doing?!"  
  
"I’m sorry! I overslept and then there was an accident blocking the street and I had to take a detour and then I - Eve what are you doing?"  
  
"Checking your pulse, what else? shut up!... Huh, weird, its like you didn’t ran at all," she gets closer to the girl, Kara needs to take one step back. "And you don't seem out of breath, not even a tiny bit agitated. Did I imagine seeing you running?"  
  
"YOU WERE DOING WHAT?!"  
  
"Oh shit," mutters Eve, turning around slowly. There, wearing a pristine white lab coat, stood Lena Luthor. Her eyes screaming bloody murder.  
  
"Don't make me ask again, Danvers!"  
  
"Hey, how are things with Japan?"  
  
"Nice try, Miss Tessmacher. Later we will talk about why I wasn’t informed of this delay. I went down to the lab expecting to find everything ready, and what I DO find? Nothing. So, worried, I come up here and find this? You know you can’t do this, Danvers! Not with a heart that can't take that kind of stress! Seriously Kara, what were you thinking?!"  
  
"'Hurry up!' That’s what I was thinking! 'You are late, move faster', 'they must be worried, move faster', 'you call that running? move faster!' and the amazing thing was that I moved faster,” Kara was glowing. Eve sees her get as close to Lena as socially acceptable. “I had already forgotten how running freely felt like! I don't know what that black thing you give me is, but I think it's working. For the first time in years, I'm pain free. I didn't even KNOW that what I felt all the time was pain, I was so used to it. Now that it is gone... I don't even know how to describe it!"  
  
"Eve," the woman is at Lena's side in a second. "Prepare all the necessary equipment for a stress test, ASAP."  
  
One hour later they confirm it: Kara's condition was, apparently, gone.  
  
"You saved me," Eve could swear Kara was looking at Lena like she hung the stars. “All my life expecting to die at any given moment and now the ever present threat is gone. Thank you.”  
  
"Don’t thank me yet,” says Lena, not letting this success to go to her head. “There are still tests to run. I could still kill you."  
The second thing Eve noticed was the stares.

Always when the other one wasn’t looking.

But Eve was and she found both women utterly exasperating and ridiculous. So ridiculous. Longing looks and sighs and blushes and hidden smiles. She got to the realization that people weren't exaggerating. Lesbians were, indeed, useless.  
  
If nothing happened soon she would have to take the situation into her own hands… yeah right, like she would dare meddling directly with Lena’s romantic life. True, she teased, but that was harmless. To go beyond that? Just no. She wasn’t Sam.  
  
Third thing she noticed. Lena looked happier. Much happier. Jeez, she didn't know her boss could smile so much. Not like Eve would call her out on it. Happiness suits her.  
  
"Happiness suits you," Eve tells her one day, during week 6 of Kara's treatment.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean the ever present smile you have now," she says. "It suits you. Not to pry, but could I know the reason?"  
  
"You know the reason, Eve. Its quite obvious."  
  
Ever grins and says wiggling her eyebrows, "Kara?"  
  
Lena blushes prettily. "Well, yes! Of course its Kara! Have you seen her last test results? No sign of rejection like we had with Odette at this stage. We are six weeks in and she is better than she ever was. She looks healthier, she is faster, stronger-"  
  
"Gorgeous?" Eve adds. Lena sighs (dreamily) and walks to her balcony windows.  
  
"I'm not blind Eve. Of course I think she is gorgeous. She is also kind, patient, understanding, and so intelligent," Lena makes a pause and sighs once more. "But I can't get involved like that, Eve. I won't."  
  
"But Lena-"  
  
"Whatever your counter argument is, Miss Tessmacher, keep it to yourself," she cuts her. "We still have a lot of work to do, especially now, with Phase X so close. The signs are starting to show. We need to get ready."  
  
"Does she know yet?"  
  
Lena stays silent.  
  
The fourth thing she notices are the powers.  
  
///  
  
She could swear she was floating over her bed that morning.  
  
She had a dream, of that she was sure. She was dreaming about the day she found out about her heart. She was back in Middle School, back in PE class, running against Gustavo Solier. She had just won and was celebrating when she felt the pain and her legs gave out. She started falling and falling and then she felt the void in the stomach and the impact against the bed.  
  
Just her imagination, she told herself. In her half sleeping state she had just imagined it.  
  
She dismisses the issue and gets ready for the day at the lab.  
  
When the handle on the bathroom door breaks she tells herself that it was due to lack of maintenance.  
  
When she hears her neighbor's argument like they were in the room with her, she just assumes they were yelling really loud.  
  
When she moves fast to save a coffee mug from shattering against the floor she just thinks her reflexes must have improved.  
  
When she notices she can see the world around her in vibrant HD colors without her glasses she just thinks that the Harun-El fixed her eyes like it fixed her heart.  
  
She doesn't think much about any of it and leaves, as she has for the last 6 weeks, to the lab.  
  
///  
  
It was an unpredictable situation. Lena knew it. Who knows what abilities Kara would develop? She could only prepare for so much. She began with the most common super powers AKA the "Superman protocol".  
  
Lena just hoped Kara wouldn’t go all human torch. The fire proof clothing project was not going well.  
  
Kara arrives early that day. She changes and sits on her stretcher as always.  
  
"So, what's for today?" Lena shows her the needle. "Ok, more blood it is.”  
  
Lena rolls the cart with all the implements closer to the blonde and puts on some gloves.  
  
"Hey, Lena?" the woman makes a sound indicating she was listening. "I wondered since the beginning, why not keeping me here in the lab? Why did you arranged the hotel?"

"Would you have preferred to stay in this room for the last six weeks?" counters Lena.  
"No, and I’m relieved its not the case," she adds quickly. "I'm just curious, that's all. Movies make this whole 'trial volunteer' business look a whole lot different."  
  
Lena takes an alcohol wipe and Kara's arm. She starts cleaning the injection site carefully. "At first our volunteers stayed," she tells her. "But of course, at first they didn't last over a couple days into the trial. It was after we made the modifications in the treatment protocol that we started sending people home. The added stress of always being here was counterproductive."  
  
"Don't I know that," mutters the blonde. Lena looks up at her. "I hate hospitals. Understandable when you get to go often and stay for days at a time since the time you were 13. I knew more hospital staff by name than kids from High school. I spent more time in a hospital than in my own bedroom at home. So yes, I agree that its stressing and counterproductive."  
  
"Then I'm glad I made the right choice," she smiles. "Now, stay still. You know the drill," Kara salutes with her free arm and stretches the other.  
  
Lena finds the vein and goes to stick in the needle.  
  
She can't.  
  
"What the-?" She applies more pressure, but the skin doesn't break. The needle does.  
  
Both women stay silent, staring at Kara's unscathed arm.  
  
"What did just happened?" Kara's question is met with silence. "Lena, what happened?"  
  
"Phase X," she says, eyes watering against her will.  
  
"Phase X, that was in the consent. Wasn't it the last part of all this? The final goal?" Kara thinks for a minute, remembering. "It went like 'if subject doesn't reject all treatments previously described, then they will have reached Phase X of the trial. At that moment, the scientist in charge will explain the future plan of care' that's what the document said."  
  
"Yes, it does say that," her voice was breaking.  
  
"Lena? What did you do to me? What does this mean?" Kara asks her. She could feel the slight tremble in the blonde's voice. Lena raises her head and looks her in the eye, tears already freely running down her face. She hugs her.  
  
"It means, Kara Danvers, that you are my hero."

///  
  
When Eve arrives to the lab, exactly 5 minutes after Lena called, she is on time to see Kara bending a metal tray like if it was origami paper. She gasps loudly and runs the last few feet until she is standing next to Lena, eyes wide.  
  
"Is this what I think it is?"

"Yes"  
  
"How did she take it?"

“See for yourself, Eve.”  
  
She looks and is very surprised.  
Kara wasn't only bending the metal tray randomly, she was making an origami crane.  
  
"Ok, so super strength I guess. And she has no problem with all the secretest parts of the project?"  
  
Lena raises an eyebrow. "Is ‘secretest’ even a word? Anyway, we talked. She was shocked at first and a little angry, but she let me explain."  
  
"And she is not deaf, you know?" they both turn to Kara, surprised. "If you are going to talk about me, at least whisper," the girl laughs and goes back to her crane.  
  
"Kara?" Eve walks to her. Lena was already inputting all the information in her charts. "We were whispering."  
  
That makes her stop. "You were?"  
  
"Super hearing!" yells Lena making them both jump. "We got three abilities down so far."  
  
"Three?" asks Eve. She had only witnessed two.  
  
"Apparently I have super skin as well?"  
  
"Invulnerability," Eve looks at Lena, who was holding a syringe with a broken needle as proof.  
  
"That's three on the main list. Do you think-?"  
  
"I am now. One means nothing, two is a coincidence, but three could be something greater."  
  
"And what's that?"  
  
"Superman protocol," answers the woman, not wasting a second. "It seems you have developed all Kryptonian abilities on this Earth. We need to run more tests. Eve, prepare the transport and then clear this room. We are moving to a more secure facility."  
  
///  
  
Superpowers.  
  
She had freaking superpowers.  
  
But most important: Lena had hugged her and called her “her hero”. She so wanted to get her hopes up after that, but she knew it was nothing personal. Lena had reacted as expected of someone who was successful in something they expected to fail. And the test subject could have been anyone. It was only chance she had gotten chosen for this trial.  
  
"It was no chance, Miss Danvers," Eve tells her in the car on their way to the hotel. She was to pack up all her things to move wherever it was the place Lena was taking them. "Your application was one of hundreds. That Miss Luthor chose you was-"  
  
"Miss Luthor?"  
  
"Yes, Miss Luthor," at Kara's still puzzled expression Eve clarifies. "Lena? Lena Luthor? Come on Kara, you must have made the connection, right?"  
  
Absolutely not.  
  
"Yes, of course!" she says instead. "I was just confirming my suspicions, I mean, who doesn't know who's Lena Luthor, right?"  
  
So a Luthor. Everyone knew about that family and their fight against the Man of Steel. At least Lex's fight had being very public. There was never proof of Lena's involvement in it, though, if you ignore Lex's claims that she helped him with the Lexosuit he used during that final fight in Metropolis.  
  
A couple years back, she read, after the youngest Luthor took control of the company and renamed it L-Corp, her mother tried to involve her in a crime against alien life on the planet. According to the paper, Lena had worked together with Superman and some Government department to bring Lilian Luthor down. She had tricked one of the most dangerous women in National City and got her arrested. True, she later escaped and more shit happened, but that’s another story. Lena Luthor had proved to the public over and over again that she wasn't like her family.  
  
And for Kara, well, she didn't care.  
  
For her she was just Lena.  
  
///  
  
The more secure facility was four hours away from the city. One of the bunkers she had inherited from her brother. Lena had cleared the place, destroyed all dangerous materials and inventions, saved what could be useful or repurposed, and basically made it her own. It was so well hidden that the only way to find it was going with her. Also because all the locks were calibrated biometrically only to her.  
  
Lena smiled when she looked at Kara's fascinated expression, her eyes were sparkling, like a kid in Santa's workshop.  
  
"What is this place?" she asked in awe.  
  
"Just a thing I inherited, nothing too special."

"If you think this is not special, I can't imagine what you think it is."

"That's easy, you are," she says without missing a beat. A few seconds later she notices that Kara's footsteps had stopped, so she turns. There stood the woman, paralyzed and blushing, in he middle of the room. "Kara?"  
  
"Go out with me?" she asks. Now its Lena's turn to blush.  
  
She opens her mouth to reject her once again, but closes it without saying a word. What excuse she has now? They weren’t in the same position they were 6 weeks ago, when they didn't know if Kara would make it. They both know now that she would. She passed with flying colors. She was super now. So what excuses did Lena have?  
  
One, she thinks, there is the one.  
  
"I think it wouldn't be the best idea," she says. "You don't know who I am. It could be a bad."  
  
"You are Lena Kieran Luthor, CEO of L-Corp and CatCo," Kara tells her, getting closer to her. "The adoptive daughter of Lillian and Lionel Luthor, sister to Lex. People normally throw you in the same sac as them, think that there will come a day you will blow a fuse inside your head and go rampant as your brother did. They choose to ignore all the good you've done in favor of misguided ideas," she stops a couple steps from her, respecting her personal space, giving her the choice to bridge that gap. "But I don't care about any of that. I've gotten to know a passionate, intelligent, brave, strong, amazing, beautiful woman. And I would love to continue to know her better. For everyone else she is just another Luthor. For me, she is Lena. Just Lena. And I like Lena. She told me I’m her hero, but I like to think that she is mine."  
  
Lena looks up at Kara's hopeful eyes and sighs. "Kara, think it through. I cured your heart. I gave you super powers. When your awed state passes, so will these feelings," she raises her hand and strokes Kara's cheek. "Believe me, I'm a bad choice, darling," they stay silent for a moment. Kara breaks the tension.  
  
"I don’t think you are a bad choice, but I do see your point," the blonde tells her. "Maybe we could start over? I’ll show you," she takes the hand Lena still had on her face and gives her a handshake. "Hi, I'm Kara Danvers, you new super lab rat. I hope we can be friends and get to know each other."  
  
Lena's smile is bright. "Hi Kara Danvers, I'm Lena Luthor. I'm looking forward to working with you, but 'super lab rat' is not a good code name. What do you think about 'Supergirl'?"  
  
///  
  
Eve Tessmacher was driving leisurely up North from National City. For an outsider she looked like the typical independent girl going for her dream vacation. You could see a blonde, driving a red convertible, with her hair being swept by the wind, wearing shades most likely hiding blue or green eyes, and blasting some Ariana Grande through the speakers of the car and singing along. It was such a chick flick thing that she passed unnoticed through the city. Most people rolling their eyes at her, muttering something about millennials, or cat calling the random pretty blonde they would forget about in approximately an hour. And even if they remembered she was so cliché that the description could be about another hundreds of women in this part of the city alone.  
  
She dropped the act when she hit the highway outside city limits and was away from prying eyes. She put down the volume of the music (waiting for the song to finish first, she did like Ariana after all), rolled the car roof in place, and started looking around for the signs Lena told her about.  
  
As to not raise suspicion, Lena had asked her to go back to her normal life while she went into an impromptu vacation (I'm the boss, who is gonna stop me?) and disappeared with Kara. That was two weeks ago. Eve had waited all that time for a message the same way Peter Parker waited for a mission from Tony in the "Homecoming" movie. Now she had a new found fondness for that fictional kid.  
  
Anyways, she couldn't wait to get to the hideout. These last two weeks were so dull. After working in breakthrough science with Lena Luthor anything else didn't quite caught her eye anymore. And going back to be James Olsen's full time executive assistant (more like a glorified secretary) was no exception.

Since Miss Luthor had ended their "relationship" (for Eve, Olsen was more like a contest dog Lena could show around) which no one knew how or why the fuck it had begun in the first place, her boss had being... a prat. Always sweet talking Eve, trying to make her tell him what she was helping Lena with.  
  
"You can't really blame him," tells her Monica, the second assistant hired when Eve started helping Lena with the experiments. "You do spend a lot of time with Miss Luthor and she is his ex after all. We all wonder," she smiles suggestively.  
  
"First, I can and I will blame him. He is a grow ass man acting like someone bullied him on the play yard and took away his toy. Its over. He needs to let it go," Monica takes a step back. She didn’t expect this reaction from her. "and Second, I have no idea what you guys think about what me and Miss Luthor do, but I can assure you that you are all wrong."  
  
Eve stormed out of the building before she slapped Monica. When she returns later there was a message from HR and a parcel from her mom waiting on her desk. She reads the HR message first. Apparently she had requested vacation time 2 months ago and it was just approved. They would be for two weeks starting Monday so four days from then. Eve was confused. She had never applied for vacations. She would come back to that.  
  
Now to the parcel. It was a pair of very stylish sunglasses. She wondered why her mom had sent them. She looked inside the box and found a note. It was not from her mom. At least now she understood where those vacations came from. She figured out after reading the first lines that she needed to read using the glasses.  
  
Hidden in the heartfelt letter from her "mother" she found instructions. It was nicely crafted and Eve found herself smiling.  
  
Now, after two weeks, she was just some miles away from doing what she truly wanted to do.

///

"Again," commands Lena from the control room. "Again," she inputs some codes in the system. "Again."

"Have I told you that your voice sometime gets this annoying high pitch?" asks Kara from inside the test room. Lena can see her glaring at her from the other side of the security glass.  
  
"Yes you have," she answers. "Several times these past few days ever since we began this last part of the trials. Again," Kara sighs, annoyed, and concentrates one more time. She starts hovering one foot over the ground, then two. It lasts for less than a minute and doesn't go any higher than that. She plummets back down, like a sac full of rocks. Big ones.  
  
"Damn it!" she punches the ground, leaving a fist size hole on the concrete.  
  
"Let's take a break. Go clear your head, Kara," the blonde stomps out of the room without a word. Lena falls back into her chair, thinking.  
  
Up until now, in these last two weeks, they found little to no problems in Kara's power development. Not even at first when they, by mutual accord, started trying out her weaknesses. It ends out she had also inherited all of Superman's weak points as well. For the very first time, Lena was glad about her brother's exhaustive kryptonian investigation. She could use it to protect Kara.  
  
Lena goes back to the Green Kryptonite trials. The Green-K had knocked out Kara in 6 seconds flat that first try after making her scream uninterruptedly. Lena would never forget that scream. Yet, after recovering, Kara insisted on trying again.  
  
"It took me by surprise, Lena. Now I'm better prepare for it. I need to create resistance to it."  
  
"I don't think that's something doable. If it was, then Superman would have done it already."  
  
"Superman didn't have you," she says while looking at her with so much trust in her eyes that Lena can't say no.  
  
Kara's final mark got to 7 minutes, but only because her heart started failing after that. The Green-K, apparently, made the Harun-El in Kara's blood to go dormant in a very aggressive way and as the Harun-El properties were what kept her heart going, it affected her original condition directly.  
  
Seven minutes. That was her limit under attack. More than that would surely kill her.  
  
Lena started the designing a Green-K resistant all purpose protection battle armor for Kara that night.  
  
Next came the Red Kryptonite and, oh boy, was that an experience. They thought nothing had happened until later that night when Kara entered the lab while she was wrapping up wearing - wow, Lena's pulse still spiked thinking about it - just a robe. What happened that night and what almost happened as well, was something Lena would have to live with. The Green-K from the previous trials was still at hand. She used it, and knocked her unconscious. While Kara was out, Lena destroyed all the synthetic kriptonite. They were both too dangerous. When Kara woke up, she insisted she didn't remember a thing. The blush on her cheeks told Lena a different story but she decided not to insist. She wasn't ready to open that particular Pandora's box full of unspoken feelings.  
  
Because Lena knew there were feelings, but she was too much of a coward to act on them even if Kara would happily accept them.  
  
And based on the Red-K, she would.  
  
The last weakness test was under the artificial Red Sun light. It also had the "take it all away" effect, but without the Green-K aggressiveness. No powers and heart disease back.  
  
"It also make the Harun-El go dormant. But its more like its singing it a lullaby. The other one was like hitting it with a sledgehammer."  
  
"Makes me feel like Deadpool. Like I was wearing that power canceling necklace. Behold my super power: heart atrophy," Lena smiles at Kara and shakes her head. From all the people she had to fall for a nerd.  
  
"Then we better come up with a contingency plan. Something you can carry in cases of emergency to shield you and allow a safe escape or give you a fighting chance. Luckily for you, I'm one step ahead."  
  
Kara's delighted expression when she sees the battle suit designs would stay with her forever.  
  
After that was over they started with the power trials. They went all out. Kara managed to get her new powers under control by half of week 2. The only incident was when she blew out her powers while overusing the heat vision. She called it "solar flare".  
  
"Not everything needs to have a name, you know?"  
  
"Of course it does," says Lena, watching Kara bask in the Sun in the inner patio of the hideout (originally, it was the place where Lex launched in the Lexosuit, reason why there was no roof, but Kara didn't need to know that). Kara was out of commission for the whole day. The Sun did good to her but it was a slow charge.  
  
Lena started designing Sun Beds for a quicker charge that night.  
  
And now they were stuck in the last trial. Flying. Kara had hit a bump and Lena didn't know how to help. But she needed to try. With a sigh she gets up and stretches. It was time for a pep talk.  
  
///  
  
It was frustrating. So frustrating. Everything else came so easily, but flying was proving to be a real pain in the ass. Kara stands in the middle of the inner patio directly under the Sun. She takes off the L-Corp hoodie Lena had given her to expose as much skin as possible. She was wearing a sleeveless tank top underneath. One unexpected thing was her new athletic body. She was digging it. She closes her eyes and relaxes.  
  
Her head starts clearing, frustrations washing away, and Kara begins to finally understand her problem. It had a name and a face: Lena Luthor.  
  
It was her feelings. Her unrequited feelings for the most amazing woman she had ever met. It was not some infatuation because Lena had saved her life as they first thought. This was real. Kara was sure her feelings were real. She had done some deep thinking after the Red-K incident that she insisted she couldn't remember. It was too embarrassing. But embarrassing or not, those thought had being the unfiltered version of what she truly felt. No walls, no barriers, just raw feelings.  
  
They were dangerous, yes, but that didn’t make them untrue. Once under control, Kara knew they were there to stay. She was in love with Lena Luthor. No doubt about that.  
  
And she couldn't say it.  
  
Lena wasn't there. That was more than obvious. Kara couldn't act on her feelings, it would be selfish of her. And that frustration, that clash of feelings, was what got her stuck.  
  
To fly she needed to be as light as the wind not heavy as a bag of bricks. And all these pent up emotions were making her heavy. She needed to come clean, let them go. Whatever happens after she just needed to accept it, be it that she got the girl or her heart got broken. She needed to decide how to confront the situation.  
  
"Kara, I knew I'd find you here."  
  
And she better decide how right about now.  
  
///  
  
When Lena enters the inner patio she stops dead in her tracks. Kara was there with her hair up in a ponytail exposing her slender neck. She was wearing the black, tight, sleeveless tank top that hugged her body in all the correct ways. Her arms were exposed and they looked strong and firm. Lena gulps. God help her. It should be a sin to look that good. She urges her gayness to calm the fuck down before speaking.  
  
"Kara, I knew I'd find you here," she sees Kara's relax form tense up immediately.  
  
"There is not much places I can go in here with natural sunlight," she replies.  
  
"More like, this is the only one."  
  
"My point exactly," Kara turns to face her. She crosses her arms and her biceps bulge a bit. Heat raises in Lena's face. She could blame it on the Sun. "You do color quite quickly. Only a few seconds under the Sun and your face is already flushed."  
  
"Yes. Pale complexions. Their are a pain," she goes to sit in the patio furniture she had decorated the place with. She signals Kara to sit with her and the blonde does... on the other side of the couch, far from her and looking away. Lena feels a little stab inside her chest. She opens her mouth to talk, but Kara beats her to it.  
  
"I've been thinking," she starts. "About what I'm doing."  
  
"I would worry if you hadn't," says Lena. "All this, its big."  
  
"I'm not talking about the experiment," Kara moves to look at her, eyes intense. "I'm talking about you."  
  
Lena can't hold her gaze. She looks away. The flush on her face more intense. Kara stands up and walks back to the middle of the patio. If she was going to do this she needed the extra Sun.  
  
"I discovered why I can't fly," she hears Lena let go the breath she was holding. Most likely glad they were gravitating back to a topic she could handle.  
  
"You did?" Lena's voice was a bit shaky still, she notices. "What is it?"  
  
"You," she turns in a circle to fully face the woman. "and me. Mostly me and my inability to control my feelings. I can't put this on you. I mean, it's not your fault if you don't feel the same as I do."  
  
"Kara-" Lena makes a motion to stand up but Kara stops her with a hand gesture.  
  
"No, let me finish. I need to get it out of my chest and if I stop now I don't know if I'll ever be able to start again," she takes a deep breath. "I've been frustrated, and I didn't know why. All these heavy feelings downing on me are the reason I can't fly. They pull me down like chains."  
  
"I don't-"  
  
"I love you," Kara drops the bomb. "I love you and I know its real. What I felt before never went away. It grew, it transformed. I feel in love with you and I don't know what to do about it because I'm also sure you don't-" Kara chokes a bit. "-you don't love me like that. But I also don't want to lose you. I'll take what you can give me just, please, I really don't want to lose you."  
  
They fall silent.  
  
"Please say something?" Lena stands up and walks to her. She takes out a handkerchief and offers it to her. "What?"  
  
Lena smiles and cleans her face. Kara understands now that she must have been crying.  
  
"You have the purest heart that I've ever seen," she starts.  
  
"So do you," she whispers. Lena shakes her head.  
  
"I told you, when we arrived here, that I was a bad idea, remember?" Kara nods. "I still stand by it."  
  
"So you-" Lena puts a finger to her lips, successfully shutting her up.  
  
"You had your piece. It's my turn," she takes one step back. "You just opened the Pandora's box that I was trying so hard to ignore. But not cause I don't feel anything, but because I feel too much," Lena dries her own eyes. "So I put everything in little mental boxes and I stack them in the farthest places of my mind. Too keep my focus where it must be. Forget everything else. Focus on the goal. On the science," She reaches for Kara's hand. "You changed that. You broke a lot of those boxes and I didn't have the chance to build new ones to keep everything out of the way and let me tell you, I tried."  
  
Kara raises her free hand and caresses Lena's face. The woman moves her head, welcoming the contact.  
  
"You don't have to worry, you won't lose me," Kara nods. "And you are also wrong, because I do feel the same." Kara beams. "Maybe not as strongly or as long as you have, but I believe I'll catch up soon," silence. Lena gulps. "Now, could you say something?"

"Can I kiss you?" Now is Lena's turn to beam.  
  
"You better do before I-"  
  
Kara kisses her, not holding back, but careful not to hurt her. Lena answers as enthusiastic, burying her hands in blonde locks, keeping her in place. Kara, on her part, moves her hands to her lower back pulling Lena as close as possible. But her hands don’t stay there for long as they move lower, to her tights, and lifts Lena easily.  
  
Lena melts, legs now around Kara's hips, and kisses her harder. When Lena breaks the kiss for air she is surprised by where they are. She yelps and clings to Kara for dear life.  
  
"What’s wrong? Did I hurt you?"  
  
"No, all its ok just, can we go back down? I don't really like heights," Kara looks down and gapes. They were a good 20 feet over the ground. She looks back to Lena with the biggest grin ever. "It seems, darling, that flying wont be a problem anymore."  
  
///  
  
When Eve arrives a couple days later, Lena regrets calling her. Logically, it was needed. Personally and selfishly, she wanted more time alone with Kara before they needed to go back. After all, Kara could only do as much Facetiming with her family without raising suspicions. Even more so with a sister in the FBI. Better get all this wrapped up. Only final details to check. No need to stay longer than necessary.  
  
When she enters the test room she is received with an over excited Eve, screaming like a teenage girl at a boy band concert. She had to cover her ears. If the noise was bad for her she could imagine how much worse it was for Kara's hearing.  
  
"Eve! Behave yourself!" she admonishes. Eve shuts up, turns, sees her, and screams again. She looks at Kara and it clicks when the blonde says "sorry" over Eve's fangirling. "Eve, if you don't shut up now you are out of the project," more magical words were never spoken.  
  
"I'm sorry, Miss Luthor, but this is great news. You two, I just knew it!"  
  
"How did you know it, exactly?" Eve gets all smug.  
  
"The smiles, the looking at you while you are distracted and looking away when you look my way, the heart eyes, its easy to notice when the other people are so into each other they forget about your presence," she explains.  
  
"Eve, not a word from you," Eve just nods. The woman was so happy it look like she would spontaneously combust. "Now, if you could go prepare the equipment for the last tests so we can do the last readings to wrap this up and go home."  
  
Eve Tessmacher leaves the room with a tiny spring on her step. Lena can only roll her eyes.  
  
"I’m sorry," says Kara walking to her and hugging her from behind. "She caught me by surprise and I didn't realize I was saying it until after I had said it."  
  
Lena relaxes onto Kara. She turns so she is facing her and wraps her arms around her neck. Kara arms fall comfortably around her waist.  
  
"Well, we would have need to tell her anyways," Lena leans forward and gives her girlfriend a small peck. "Now, ready to see your suit?"  
  
///

1 year later…

"I cant- I mean-," the doctor takes a calming breath to compose himself. "Kara, I'll be honest, if I wasn't the one who ordered and did the tests myself I would swear someone tampered with the results," he moves so she can see the screen showing the results of her last stress test. "This is your heart. It looks like it hasn't being sick a day of your life. It looks like the healthiest heart I’ve ever seen in all my 20 years as a doctor."  
"So what does that mean for our request?"  
  
"It means that I gladly accept to participate in the next step of public human trials and to defend your dissertation to the hospital board. You said you found a way to further modify the component, right Miss Luthor?"  
  
"Not further modify," answers Lena. "More like went back a few modifications and changed the composition to avoid Kara's... side effects."  
  
"Side effects?"  
  
"Some allergic reactions," Kara explains. "Nothing major, but it can be annoying."  
  
"I see," says the doctor. "Well, nothing can be perfect, right?"  
  
"Indeed."  
  
The doctor's expression softens. "I'm so glad that you are fine, Kara. More than fine, really. I was already getting used to the idea of having to attend your funeral in the next weeks."  
  
"'Last time I saw my doctor, he told me I had a year, maybe even less', that's how I'm starting the speech as first survivor of this cure."  
  
"Good opening," he laughs. "So, I guess this is our last time meeting in this room," the doctor stands up and the two women follow suit. Kara goes for a hug. The old man accepts it gladly. He then shakes hands with Lena. "We'll be in touch, Miss Luthor. This is revolutionary. Truly magnificent."  
  
"Thank you. I’m honored to count with your help on this."  
  
"On the contrary, the honor is all mine."  
  
"My assistants will be in touch," she turns to Kara and takes her hand in hers. It was a natural motion, like you see in old married couples. They leave like that, hand in hand. The old doctor smiles.  
  
"Health and love. Man! Some truly are born lucky!"  
  
///  
  
"So? How did it go?"  
  
"It couldn't have gone better. Now it's official on my medical records," she answers. "I already signed the permission for it to be used in the reports for the FDA. Of course, we still need more data, but its a start," she juggles her phone and keys to open the door to the penthouse. She can hear some noises on the other side of the line. "How about you? Work ok? We are still meeting tomorrow, right?"  
  
"Well..."  
  
"Alex Danvers, you promised!" her sister laughs.  
  
"Relax, I'm just messing with you. I'll be there as agreed to help you with your dilemma."  
  
"Don’t called it like that," Kara opens the door and enters the apartment, closing firmly behind her. "It's not a dilemma, I just want a second opinion," she falls down on the couch and gets comfortable. "You know I've been thinking about it for the last few months."  
  
"How do you think Lena will react? Does she suspect anything?"  
  
"I truly doubt it," says Kara. "She's being so busy with the Harun-El project modifications."  
  
"Right, that. Closing the superhero factory after the first success."  
  
"We talked about it, Alex," she says. "It was dangerous to just keep giving these abilities to people. Specially when only a few could be picked for treatment. Yells of discrimination and all other social issues would have risen and there was a high chance that many organizations, including criminal, would have tried to steal the formulas or worse."  
  
"Hey, as FBI, I'm not complaining here," she says. "Do you know the headache that happened when you suddenly appeared flying in the skies and punching criminals? I don't even want to imagine what it would have been if there was a superhero mass production. My bosses weren’t happy."  
  
"Your bosses and Superman," Kara smiles smugly at the memory. "That was one heck of a fight. I'm so glad I’ve being doing some serious fighting training. The guy is good but his form is terrible. I know it was declared a stalemate, but I totally kicked his ass," Alex sighs.  
  
"How to forget. It was two months after your vigilante debut and also the moment I realized it was you when Superman punched that stupid helmet out of your head."  
  
"I happened to really like that stupid helmet, thank you very much," Kara replies. "Of course, its useless to wear it now. It's main purpose was to hide my face, after all."  
  
"Mom wasn't happy, either," Alex reminds her.  
  
"Like I could forget," Kara shudders. She hears the elevator door open in her floor. "Gotta go, Lena is here. See you tomorrow?"  
  
"Yes, I'll be free by 11. I’ll go pick you up and you better be ready. Take care."  
  
"See you," they hung up the moment the door opens and Lena enters their apartment.  
  
Their apartment. Kara still grinned like a happy fool every time even if they had been living together for half a year already.  
  
After all test were done and they were sure Kara would be fine, the blonde went back to Midvale to put all her business there in order to be able to move to National City. Lena helped her set everything up. She even tried to get her a position at L-Corp, but Kara didn't accept it. She didn't want problems with 'dating the boss' rumors. She found a job as art curator at a small gallery. And people told her the art degree would be useless paper. The job had flexible hours so it was perfect for her other Super job.  
  
The moving in together talk came after they realized (thanks to Alex) that Kara spent more time (nights) at Lena's than at her own place, so, when Lena offered Kara couldn't say yes fast enough. It was a dream come true.  
  
"Hey, Lee! How was the meeting with the Hospital board?" Lena looks away from her tablet and smiles brightly at her.  
  
"It was great," she walks to the couch and sits next to Kara. The blonde puts her arms around her immediately and Lena kisses her lightly on the lips. "They tried to shut us down. They didn't want to approve the public trials to be held in their prestigious hospital."  
  
"But they didn't know who they were dealing with, the great Lena Luthor," Kara whisper in her ear, sending shivers down her spine.  
  
"You know it, darling," Lena moves to fit better on Kara's lap. "I had counter arguments for their counter arguments. They never had a chance. The project will be entered in the system and offered as treatment choice to patients. Every person who accepts will speak directly with me and Dr. Wiver before signing anything."  
  
"So you are focusing on cardiology for now?"  
  
"We are, because that was the case we treated with you, but its fine. Most patients suffer from more than one illness. We will take it as heart exclusive for now, but when we start seeing improvement in other areas during the treatment we could start doing all the paperwork to expand the investigation. Now we just have to wait."  
  
Kara takes Lena's face in her hands and kisses her, hard and long. They end up lying on the couch, Lena's hands starting to wander. Kara breaks the kiss before they went over the point of no return.  
  
"What was that for? Not that I complain," asks Lena a little out of breath.  
  
"Do I need a reason?" Lena gives her a side smile. "Ok, with all this project. Saving lives. I just wanted to show you how amazing I think you are. That's all."  
  
"You show me everyday, Kara."  
  
"And I want to show you for the rest of our lives if you let me," she says without thinking. They both tense.  
  
"Kara? Did you just-?"  
  
"No"  
  
"I'm pretty sure I heard-"  
  
"No," Lena touches her face softly.  
  
"Kara, I know what I heard," Kara let's herself fall over Lena and hides her face on her chest. "And yes"  
  
"I had a plan," she says, voice muffled. "It was going to be the most romantic moment of your live and I just... wait," she straightens up to look directly to Lena's face, eyes wide. "Did you say yes?"  
  
Lena playfully kisses her nose. "Yes"  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Why don't you ask me and confirm it?" Kara gets off the couch taking Lena with her. They stand in the middle of the living room facing each other. Then Kara gets on one knee.  
  
"Alex is going to kill me, we were going ring shopping tomorrow," she looks up at Lena's amused smile. She takes a deep breath. "Lena Luthor, I don't have a fancy speech prepared and even if I did all that I could say you already know it. So I'll just ask you. Lena, would you be my wife? Will you marry me?" Lena kneels down as well, tears in her eyes and smiling brightly.  
  
"Yes," she says as clear as possible. "I'll marry you"  
  
///  
  
Supergirl was flying around the city, doing her evening patrol. People waved at her or happily shouted her name. She was a hero. Already used to the idea after so long. At a given moment she starts to ascend getting clear of the streets and avoiding public lighting. People should never see were she landed every night. She didn't want rumors about Lena Luthor’s late night visits from Supergirl.  
  
Interesting. Jealous of herself.  
  
She lands quietly and enters, stopping to see a specific framed picture on the wall.  
  
Lena and her, both in beautiful white dresses.  
  
Their wedding day three months ago.  
  
Kara takes her ring out from under her suit. it was attached to a golden necklace. Supergirl couldn't be seen with a wedding ring. She finishes changing and puts it on, thinking.  
  
Almost three years ago she was sentenced to die, now she was a Superhero married to the love of her life. How things moved so fast, she wasn't sure but she thanks the universe everyday.  
  
That fateful day at the lab, Lena thought that it all would end with her. Little did she know it was just the beginning.  
  
Time to continue living.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was inspired by the post here:  
> https://bossbeth.tumblr.com/post/180505442875/so-whooooooos-gonna-write-the-fic-where-a-dying


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